[QUOTE=

One question to fellow users, have you rigged a USB charger socket onto the bike or are you using Cigar lighter/DIN-USB adapters? Anyone had a USB survive a northern winter?

Cheers

Andy[/QUOTE]

Andy ,,, get a lighter jack or make a direct connect to the battery with a fuse. Not a problem. When you set the phone in a box .. make sure to have a padding so the USB connection does not move too much.
Also having a Ram mount waterproof box on the handle bar with SSG2 inside ,, I survived a thunder storm on top of the Ural pass, for two hours.
I have downloaded the world map from Sygic.com for 72 euros and it worked with 99% accuracy. GPS will connect in 30 seconds.
Two POS Garmin I took with me never worked properly. I stomped on them and threw them away.
Also when I go somewhere and park the car ,, I take pics of the spot. Used it to take pics of food ,, while doing Siberia,, next Kafe ,, I just showed the food I want to eat. While I would use it as a GPS ,, MP3 would give me hours of music. When to bed I would listen to audible books I have down loaded,, listen to BBC world services ,, read my newspapers,, download Kakao Talk from APP store for free ,, talk and chat with family and friends for free,, as long as you have wi-fi or data. Download movie tickets do the banking on it,, send money,, use paypal ,, use it as a check out card a the groceries. Put a where is my androd program on it ,, so you can trace the phone in case of misplacing the phone ,, put a graphic phone lock so others can't open the phone.
One caution, when using with the cigar jack ,, turn on the power then off every two hours or it will fry the battery, in hot weather.

Hi ,Just found this thread as its what I have been thinking about for a while

My needs are slightly different as I have a 4 tonne Iveco 4x4 camper so I've been looking at Android tablets to use for navigation (that can be backed up by my phone as my phone also runs android)

Now I've been looking for rugged android tablets, dust and vibration still happen in the cab of a truck , water less of a problem. I want a bigger screen than phones give me as i'm a distance away from the gps.

Interested to hear that seouljoe is using sygic as I've been looking at that and thinking of buying it as a test as it looks quite comprehensive.

Looking for Rugged tablets , there seems to be a range out there just about to be launched from casio and others. I have fond ones from this french company but cannot find if they are sold outside the French speaking world - they do rugged phones and tablets

Mobile Tout Terrain : Mobile Antichoc - Mobile Etanche

I like the idea as I believe memory map also have an android app so good for OS mapping at home.

Cost of teblet is less than 300 Euro

__________________
Rich

Iveco Turbo Daily 4x4 40-10
Ex Owner LR101 300Tdi Ambi 'Tiggurr'

Rich

Check out the Nexus 7 which is a tablet sold by Google, the 8GB model is £160 and the spec is outstanding for any price.

Also before buying any App make sure the maps avaliable cover the area you're interested in.

I'm playing with / Testing a Nexus 7 and Welcome To Osmand at the moment for 4x4 travel.

Matt

Hiya Matt

But how rugged is the nexus 7 - that would be my concern , i've looked at the spec and its definatly a good spec. Only concern I would have is the lack of SD slot for storage

Rugged cases look due out in october time. please keep us informed of your experiences

Rich

__________________
Rich

Iveco Turbo Daily 4x4 40-10
Ex Owner LR101 300Tdi Ambi 'Tiggurr'

See I used to be a total smartphone advocate, but now, having won a Zümo 350LM, I'm a convert. I like the fact that it it's what it it's, not a jack of all trades. I like the fact it clips onto it's dedicated mount, turns itself on and is ready to go, I like the fact I can Deedee the display clearly even in bright sunlight, and work it with gloves on.

None of these things can I do with my Samsung Galaxy Note, so whilst I think there may be better maps, better software on Smartphones, what there isn't, is the hardware to match.

I'll still use my phone, especially since I've discovered I can download gpx files and transfer them directly from phone to Garmin which the phone sees as a drive, but for on the bike use I'm a Garmin convert. Would I be if I'd had to pay for it? Well let's just say I would have soldiered on with my phone as £400 is a lot of money to me (and if anyone wants a Zümo 400, complete with disc, cables, mount and box let me know).

__________________

Rich

A cheap cable can be attached to the charge port of the Nexus, then a pen drive etc can be attached to extend the memory.

ATM, I use a Garmin 1490 (5" screen) for normal travel on busy roads and a windows tablet with nRoute and Mapsource for an overview and to follow pistes install tracks etc. This works really well and I'm hoping when Windows 8 takes off there will be a good range of windows tablets to choose from.

I'm more thinking of the Nexus as a navigation backup, for entertainment, for planning and very much as an Ebook reader, it's amazing value for money.

IMO android navigation does not beat Garmin.

Gosh, I like my Garmin Streetpilot 7500 with the 7.5" screen so much that I have 2 spares. Yes it does cost $ for things like the best Mexico map and China SD card, but there's always OpenStreetMap for the cost of an SD card.
AFAIK nobody makes a GPS that screen size or bigger, unless one wants to deal with the fragility and size of a laptop.

Charlie

__________________
Unimog U500 w/Unicat

I had a really bad experience using my iPhone for navigation.

The main problem was that it overheated in direct sunlight and shut down, over and over again - it was useless. In the end I used some gaffa to make a sun visor/flap for it that I could lift up to check the map - but it was no good solution.

I still have not given up on the idea though. I am trying to gat my hands on the lifeproof protective case which will make it waterproof, and their GoPro adapter mount. The latter has been out of stock for ages - but is the thing that makes the solution attractive. With this I could also use the phone (camera front and back) as an action cam, a GPS, a phone, mp3 player... with several attachments arround the bike.

I am hoping that I can place it behind my black wind deflector to keep it out of the sun when it comes from the front, and my body if it comes from the rear.

If you buy some conductive thread on e-bay and stitch this into the thumb and index finger of your glove, then you should be able to operate it with your gloves on.

__________________
Blog: www.bamakobyvespa.no
My Youtube Channel

Now, if you combine this with DeLorme inReach 2 way satellite communicator with GPS - then you can place calls anywhere there is no cell coverage, post to facebook/twitter from anywhere, send sms from anywhere... and send predefined emergency messages from anywhere, use it as a tracker, navigate where there are no roads... Only thing, you can't use it as a modem to surf or send e-mails



And, if you combine all of this with a scala rider bluetooth handsfree, then you should have everything covered:


Listen to music on and off the bike
Place calls on and off the bike - even where there is no cell phone coverage
Listen to the radio
Use it as an action camera or regular camera
Enjoy turn by turn sat nav
Enjoy nav off road
When in WiFi range, you can update blog, upload photos, check e-mail, surf the web...
Etc

But as it is bluetooth, you can't operate it all seemlessly at the same time...

__________________
Blog: www.bamakobyvespa.no
My Youtube Channel

I read a report in some newspaper recently about Tom Tom bringing out an App for Android phones - I can't remember which newspaper unfortunately, but I think it was projected that the UK asking price would be about £30.

I've been reading this report which indicates it will come to the USA market around the end of this month:-
TomTom bringing its navigation app to Android in October, keeping mum on the details -- Engadget
Yep, the mapping will be available on the phone memory so it won't need to be connected to the phone signal in order to navigate.
(the comments attached to this report are somewhat informative and even amusing concerning the enthusiasm for different products).

This continuing discussion reminds me of the arguments about Betamax and VHS recording tapes of many years ago; of course, VHS won the market but they were all superceded by recordable DVDs and, further down the line, digital recording to thumbsticks, cards etc.

__________________
Dave

You can get the exact same maps and features on a smart phone as you can get on any standalone device.

The standalone device is simpler, and will probably have a longer battery.

I've done a number of tours in the safety of Europe using the following phones. Nokia N80 - Tom Tom / Ovi Maps. ZTE Blade Sygic, HTC Desire S - Sygic, Motorola Defy - Sygic / Google Maps.

I also have a bluetooth GPS receiver. I used this with the Nokia and TomTom and that's been the best combination I found.

The GPS on the Blade was poor in comparison, as was the HTC. The Motorola Defy was actually pretty good.

I've now got a Galaxy S3 and the GPS seems great. If traveling outside Europe (I haven't made it that far yet) I think I'd also take my separate GPS receiver just as a backup.

In response to the post above. The Tom Tom app is now out. It looks good, but after a couple of years without Tom Tom I actually prefer the look of Sygic. The comment on the Tom Tom are mixed. Most people are complaining about the lack of functionality e.g the ability to set custom POI notifications etc.. I think it's too locked down at the moment for any serious traveller.

__________________
My blog about touring and adv riding